Cristiano Ronaldo conceded the feelings were bittersweet after Portugal progressed to the last eight of Euro 2024.

Ronaldo saw a penalty brilliantly saved by Jan Oblak during extra time of Monday's clash with Slovenia.

The 39-year-old was in tears at the interval during the extra 30 minutes, but stepped up to take Portugal's first spot-kick in the shootout and made no mistake with his finish.

Diogo Costa was Portugal's hero, as he became the first goalkeeper to save three shots in a European Championship penalty shootout without conceding.

Ronaldo teared up again during his media duties at full-time.

"Even the strongest people have their [bad] days. I was at rock bottom when the team needed me the most," said Ronaldo, as quoted by BBC Sport.

"Sadness at the start is joy at the end. That's what football is. Moments, inexplicable moments. I feel sad and happy at the same time.

"But the important thing is to enjoy it. The team did an extraordinary job.

"We fought right to the end and I think we deserved it."

Ronaldo, the record goalscorer and appearance maker at the Euros, has had 20 shots so far in Germany without finding the back of the net.

"We all know that Cristiano is the hardest worker," said goalkeeper Costa.

"I understand how frustrated he is because he devotes all his time to this. It’s a pleasure and an honour to be on the same team as him.

"We're a family, I really think this. I focus on making the best of these chances and I wanted to help the team. This is the most important thing."

Portugal will take on fellow heavyweights France in the quarter-finals.

Cristiano Ronaldo saw an extra-time penalty saved by Jan Oblak, but recovered to convert in the shoot-out as Portugal survived a huge scare to beat Slovenia on spot-kicks following a goalless draw in the last 16 at Euro 2024.

Ronaldo had a glorious opportunity to send Portugal through in the first half of extra time, but broke down in tears when his tame kick was repelled by the Atletico Madrid goalkeeper.

He had earlier missed chance after chance in regulation time as Slovenia – chiefly thanks to the efforts of Oblak – kept Roberto Martinez's team at bay to force spot-kicks.

However, he made no mistake with his second attempt from the spot, and Diogo Costa kept out all three Slovenia kicks from Josip Ilicic, Jure Balkovec and Benjamin Verbic.

The Selecao will now take on France for a spot in the semi-finals on Friday, while Slovenia's tournament is over despite a gallant effort in Frankfurt. 

Both Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandes were unable to get a touch on Bernardo Silva's inswinging cross as Portugal put Slovenia under pressure early on, the former also heading straight at Oblak when presented with another good chance 31 minutes in.

Oblak was then relieved to see Ronaldo send a dipping free-kick effort narrowly over the crossbar, before Joao Palhinha saw a low drive kiss the outside of the post on the stroke of half-time.

Ronaldo saw another free-kick beaten away by Oblak after the restart, before Benjamin Sesko squandered a huge chance on the break, dragging his shot wide after showing blistering pace to beat Pepe – now the oldest player to play in a World Cup or European Championship knockout match at 41 years and 126 days.

Ronaldo had one final chance to avoid extra time in the 89th minute, but Oblak stood firm to repel his left-footed strike at the near post, and keep Slovenia in the tie.

It was Oblak versus Ronaldo once again as the first half of extra time drew to a close, Daniele Orsato awarding a penalty when Jota was felled by Vanja Drkusic.

Ronaldo went for the bottom-right corner, but Oblak sprung across to make a brilliant stop and leave the five-time Ballon d'Or winner in tears at the interval.

It was then Costa's turn to produce the heroics at the other end, making a huge one-on-one save to deny Sesko following a mistake from Pepe to take the tie to penalties. 

Costa was unbeatable in the shoot-out, too, keeping out all three Slovenia kicks, while Ronaldo atoned for his earlier miss by converting coolly with Portugal's first kick, before Fernandes and Bernardo Silva also converted as the Selecao edged through

Antoine Griezmann hit back at media criticism after France progressed to the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 with a 1-0 victory over Belgium.

Jan Vertonghen's 85th-minute own goal was enough to send Les Bleus into the last eight after another flat performance.

It was the second time that an own goal had given them a win at the tournament, after their opening victory over Austria.

Kylian Mbappe is the only Frenchman to score at the tournament, netting for the first time at the European Championships from the penalty spot against Poland, meaning France's wait for an open-play goal continues.

However, Griezmann was not happy when it was suggested that the scoreline was too low, or that he had made a sacrifice by switching out to the right of the front three.

"Don't p*** us off about a small score or something, we're in the quarters," Griezmann told BeIN Sports. "Big game defensively for the team. Without a great defence, you can't go far. It was another new system for us, we have to get used to it.

"I learned [about my position on the right] this morning. I'm at the service of the coach and the team. The coach told me to play here, I play here.

"No matter where I play, I'm going to give my all. [Didier Deschamps] knows where I like to play, but I'm always going to give everything for the team. This coach has confidence in me and I try to give it back to him."

Meanwhile, Adrien Rabiot was left to lament a first-half yellow card, his second booking of the tournament, which will see him miss the quarter-finals.

Despite his frustration, he was proud of the team for grinding out the win.

"It's a real relief with this goal," Rabiot told RMC. "We played a good match, we were solid.

"We have this ability to not concede a goal, to be very good at recovery. We know that it will only take one to put it in the net. It was the perfect match because with this goal at the end of the match, we broke their legs.

"I'm disgusted to have taken this yellow. I find that the refereeing at the start of the match was a little limited. But I have confidence in the guys on the bench, I will be behind them."

Portugal defender Pepe has become the oldest player to appear in a knockout-stage game at a World Cup or European Championships, surpassing the record held by Peter Shilton.

England goalkeeping great Shilton was 40 years and 292 days old when he represented the Three Lions in their third-place play-off loss to Italy at the 1990 World Cup.

At 41 years and 126 days old, Pepe claimed that record for himself when he started Portugal's Euro 2024 last-16 meeting with Slovenia in Frankfurt on Monday.

Pepe and Cristiano Ronaldo are also the two oldest players to appear at the Euros, with the Selecao captain aged 39 years and 147 days when he stepped out versus Slovenia.

Didier Deschamps believes France's patience paid off as they edged to a narrow victory over a "cautious" Belgium side at Euro 2024.

Billed as the match to look out for in the round of 16, the game did not live up to expectations, though France got the all-important goal when Jan Vertonghen inadvertently turned Randal Kolo Muani’s shot into his own net.

France will now face either Portugal or Slovenia in the last eight, and they have done so without scoring a goal from open play, with two own goals and a penalty making up their current tally.

Deschamps has credited France's persistence following the win against who he believes are a tough side to face.

"We made a lot of progress and I think that the opponent was obviously a little bit more cautious, even though on paper Belgium is quite an offensive team," Deschamps said.

"They are quite an attacking team, they maybe, held back a little bit more than we're used to seeing. On our side as well, even though we did everything we could to try and attack, to try and score, to try and create chances.

"We managed to create more chances than Belgium did, but we were also maybe on the back foot. We were intelligent, we were playing the waiting game, and we weren't going to fall into the trap of giving them the space that they were looking for."

Excluding own goals, France have not scored from any of their 66 non-penalty shots at Euro 2024.

With many questions being asked about Les Bleus' finishing, Deschamps admitted it is an area they will continue to work on.

"Obviously, you can't win games just through possession, but it's better having the possession of the ball and attacking and making the team defend," Deschamps added. "But the number of shots we had, that's probably the only thing that I want to work on.

"I think that on the pitch there's high intensity, and even if today the goal is enough for us to get to the quarter-finals, we've always got the capacity and the capability to score more.

"I'm immensely proud of what we've been able to do, and we're into the quarter-finals, and that's probably what counts."

France edged into the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 with a 1-0 victory over Belgium thanks to a late Jan Vertonghen own goal.

Les Bleus' struggles in attack continued in another flat display, but that did not matter as they got the all-important goal in the 85th minute to send them through.

Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne both had chances for Belgium but failed to find a way past Mike Maignan, then Vertonghen diverted Randal Kolo Muani's strike into his own net to send the Red Devils out. 

France will meet either Portugal or Slovenia in the last eight, while Belgium go home after a poor showing in Germany.

Having struggled in attack through the group stage, both teams started slowly in Dusseldorf, with Antoine Griezmann's tame effort into Koen Casteels' gloves the only shot on target in the first half.

De Bruyne then caused a bit of panic in France's box as his free-kick took a big deflection off the wall and needed blocking by Maignan.

Moments later, France suffered a blow as Adrien Rabiot was booked for a needless challenge on Jeremy Doku, his second yellow card of the tournament earning him a one-match suspension.

Marcus Thuram then went close as he flicked a header wide of the near post before Aurelien Tchouameni fired into the stands with the last action of the first half.

Didier Deschamps' half-time message was clear as France upped the pressure – Casteels pushed away Tchouameni's low strike before Kylian Mbappe whipped an effort just over the bar.

Belgium's first shot on target came in the 69th minute as Orel Mangala picked out Lukaku, but his drilled attempt was pushed away by Maignan.

The goalkeeper remained alert as he then parried De Bruyne’s long-range shot, and just moments later, France finally took the lead.

Substitute Kolo Muani spun away from Vertonghen, but his shot was poor. That did not matter though, as it took a big deflection off the defender to take it flying past Casteels and into the back of the net.

Platini's record still evades Mbappe

Mbappe finally scored his first goal at the European Championships last time out, clinically dispatching a spot-kick against Poland in France's final group game.

It took his tally for Les Bleus at major tournaments to 13, and he is just one away from equalling Michel Platini, who leads with 14 such goals for his country.

The captain attempted five shots in this game, and is now up to 15 in the tournament overall, but it would not be him that grabbed the headlines.

For the second time this tournament, France benefitted from an own-goal winner as their wait for an open-play goal at Euro 2024 goes on. 

Same old problems

Both France and Belgium had underwhelming group stages, and the Red Devils struggled to up the ante as they slumped to another disappointing tournament exit.

Only Serbia (3.8%) had a poorer shot conversion rate over the first three matches than Belgium (4.2%, two goals from 48 shots, level with France).

Belgium attempted just one shot in the first half, their joint-fewest in the first half of a game at the Euros on record (since 1980), along with one versus Denmark at Euro 2020.

It was also another frustrating day for Lukaku, who has failed to find the back of the net at this tournament, missing a host of chances across his four games.

The forward managed just one shot, and only two touches in the opposition box, as he struggled to make his mark.

England progressed to the Euro 2024 quarter-finals by completing a late comeback against Slovakia on Sunday.

Jude Bellingham scored the Three Lions' equaliser in a 2-1 extra-time victory in Gelsenkirchen, dispatching a stunning overhead kick deep into stoppage time.

There was plenty of reaction on social media that continued into Monday, while other teams looked forward to their last-16 ties.

Here, we round up the best posts from around the tournament.

Bellingham rubbishes celebration speculation

UEFA has confirmed it will investigate Bellingham's celebration, in which he appeared to make a rude gesture in the direction of the Slovakia fans.

Bellingham, however, insists it was an "inside joke".

He also apologised for any offence caused.

"An inside joke gesture towards some close friends who were at the game. Nothing but respect for how that Slovakia team played tonight," he wrote on X.

Copycats?

They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and perhaps that is how the Dutch fans will look at their lowlands neighbours, the Belgians.

Ahead of Belgium's clash with France, the Red Devils' X account shared a video of a fanpark, where their supporters were enjoying a brilliant warm-up.

It looked like everyone was having plenty of fun, and perhaps they'll be giving the Netherlands' fans - who have been the stars of the show in Germany so far - a run for their money.

Pogback

Paul Pogba is absent from Euro 2024, due to the ban he received for alleged doping.

While Pogba fights that charge, he is of course not able to be involved.

However, the 2018 World Cup winner was on hand in Dusseldorf to gee up France's supporters ahead of the clash with Belgium.

Bellingham's brilliance

While there was some controversy over his celebration, Bellingham's last-gasp equaliser for England really is worth re-living over and over again.

And that's what the official UEFA Euro 2024 X account did, sharing a slow-motion clip of that exquisite overhead kick.

Anyone know the score?

Just before Bellingham's moment of genius, Kylian Mbappe was wrapping up his pre-match press conference.

And the France star could not help but ask what the score was in the England match.

Much to his surprise, he was informed Slovakia were winning. Of course, that did not last.

Lineker defends Jude

Gary Lineker has seemingly not been the most popular figure in the England camp following his critical comments so far this tournament.

But the BBC Sport pundit was delighted that Bellingham got Gareth Southgate's team out of trouble.

He was less pleased, though, to hear UEFA were investigating his post-match celebration.

The Oranje arrive

The Netherlands take on Romania on Tuesday, and Ronald Koeman's team arrived in Munich on Monday.

Virgil van Dijk took the Oranje out for a warm-up. Will the Dutch get over the line and tee up a meeting with either Austria or Turkiye?

Georgia's Euro 2024 breakout star Georges Mikautadze has joined Metz on a permanent basis but could yet be sold on, with West Ham, Newcastle United and other clubs reportedly interested.

Mikautadze enjoyed an excellent campaign with the major tournament debutants, who reached the last 16 but were beaten 4-1 by Spain on Sunday.

He scored three goals in the group stage, two of them from the penalty spot, and remains joint-top of the competition's goalscoring charts, alongside Germany's Jamal Musiala and Slovakia's Ivan Schranz.

The 23-year-old's strikes came from a total of 2.26 expected goals (xG) – currently the second-highest figure at the tournament behind Kai Havertz's 3.7.

His conversion rate of 50% (six shots taken), meanwhile, is the fourth-best of all players to have scored multiple goals at the competition, behind Niclas Fullkrug and Jude Bellingham (66.7%) and Schranz (60%).

Mikautadze played for Metz's youth teams before re-joining on loan from Ajax in January, in a deal containing a €10million purchase clause.

He scored 13 goals in 20 Ligue 1 appearances but was unable to prevent Metz from being relegated, losing a play-off to Saint-Etienne as the teams swapped places.

While Metz have taken up their option to make Mikautadze their player, his stay may not be a long one.

Reports suggest he could yet be sold on for a profit, with the likes of West Ham, Newcastle, Borussia Dortmund, Napoli and Monaco credited with an interest.

It is believed a fee of around €20m (£16m) could be enough to prise him away from the Stade Saint-Symphorien.

Spain are the best side at Euro 2024, so says La Roja head coach Luis de la Fuente.

Tournament debutants Georgia were no match for Spain on Sunday, as De la Fuente's team ran out 4-1 victors in Cologne.

Spain accumulated 3.25 expected goals (xG) and allowed just 0.25 going the other way in another emphatic performance in which their youngsters Lamine Yamal and Nico Willams dazzled.

La Roja will now face hosts Germany in an enthralling quarter-final tie, but De la Fuente says they must hold no fear.

"We have a lot of confidence and a team with talent, quality and commitment.

"Being convinced of your ability is very important. I don't want to offend anyone but we have the best team at this tournament.

"Germany is a fantastic team, they have some of the best players in the world and they are very organised, very disciplined.

"But they will face a team that is very similar to them, very committed, very well organised, difficult to overcome, hungry with lots of ambition.

"I know it's the usual thing to say but in football it's the small details that will decide the match and what happens in the end."

Only Germany (10) have scored more goals at Euro 2024 so far than Spain (nine), while La Roja lead the way for non-penalty xG (8.9) and shots (72) - 35 of those attempts came against Georgia.

They have conceded just one goal at the tournament, with that being the own goal netted by Robin Le Normand against Georgia on Sunday. 

Luciano Spalletti has said Italian fans have not seen the best he can offer yet after it was confirmed he would remain as Azzurri coach.

And the former Napoli boss promised that he will continue to freshen up Italy's squad, adding he has not been given the answers he wanted from the selection he made for Euro 2024.

Italy put in a poor display as they lost 2-0 to Switzerland on Saturday, with the holders crashing out of the tournament having managed just one win from their four games.

But on Sunday, FIGC president Gabriele Gravina reiterated the organisation's backing of Spalletti, who replaced Roberto Mancini last year.

"We have nothing to hide, but we must continue to take responsibility," Gravina said, as quoted by Football Italia.

"There was a long chat with the coach yesterday and I think that it is unthinkable to solve the problems by abandoning a multi-year project after eight to nine months.

"Central to our project is a coach who has been here for nine to 10 months, who has not always had all the players available."

Spalletti's task will be to guide Italy to the 2026 World Cup, with the Azzurri having failed to qualify for the last two editions of that competition.

But the 65-year-old wants to do that by "rejuvenating" Italy's squad.

The Azzurri had the fifth-youngest squad at Euro 2024, with an average age of 26 years and 348 days when the tournament began.

"Yesterday's match took us back down to zero and we'll start again from there," he said.

"I will rejuvenate this squad and try to create a group. I wasn't given the answers I was looking for regarding leadership. The future will be younger with new energy and strength."

Spalletti added: "You haven't seen [the best of me] over these 10 months.

"I was told that I raised the intensity in training too much, that I told fairytales to motivate the players, but that's my life. You always need examples to follow otherwise there is no path to follow.

"I came in when there was an immediate urgency for results and given what was required, we were looking good up to a certain point. We were unable to grow in this mini-journey we took yesterday, we took a significant step backwards and that cannot be accepted. But we will start again from there. I know what to do and I will put it into practice."

Julian Nagelsmann believes Germany will feel no added pressure after playing their "best" football at Euro 2024 so far during their 2-0 win over Denmark.

Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala both scored in the second half to send Germany through to the quarter-finals, though it was a game that also had three disallowed goals and a near-30-minute break in the first half due to a storm in Dortmund.

Despite that, Germany remained in control for large parts of the game, though Nagelsmann pointed out there is still room for improvement before they face either Spain or Georgia in the next round.

"The first 20 minutes of the game was the best we've played at the tournament and then the rain break unsettled everyone," Nagelsmann said.

"Denmark didn't have a shot in the first half, but in the second half put more pressure on us. There's a lot of work to do ahead of the quarter-finals, we need to be a little more patient in the build-up phase and wait for our moments."

Asked if the fans' expectations will rise after Germany won their first knockout game for eight years, Nagelsmann added: "I think we have no more pressure than usual. I think the fans and also the expectation of our fans is a big push for us.

"We can deal with the pressure. For me, it's still a privilege, and we also tell the players it's a privilege to play soccer games under pressure. All the players are used to dealing with it, so it's no problem."

Nico Schlotterbeck was one of those denied by VAR after he thought he had scored his first goal for the national team after just five minutes before it was disallowed for a foul in the build-up.

He later set up Musiala's strike though, with the defender echoing the praise of their manager.

"I think we had a super game and hope that the fans in Dortmund enjoyed it," said Schlotterbeck. "I'm very happy for the team, it's reward for the hard work.

"The break for the rain, we handled well. We played with euphoria and with pleasure, and now we go to Stuttgart [for the quarter-final]."

Luis de la Fuente says Spain will not make the mistake of underestimating Euro 2024 surprise package Georgia in the round of 16.

Spain cruised through the so-called 'group of death', winning all three of their games against Croatia, Italy and Albania without conceding a single goal.

Meanwhile, Georgia progressed as one of the best third-place teams after stunning Euro 2016 champions Portugal with a 2-0 victory in their final group game.

La Roja also met Georgia in Euro 2024 qualifying, earning a memorable 7-1 victory in the away fixture.

However, De la Fuente was quick to praise the improvement in their opponents since that meeting, noting that Spain had to expect a bigger challenge this time around.

"It was a very important game for us, we arrived [in Georgia] under a lot of pressure, and we came back from that game as a family, a lot stronger than before," said De la Fuente.

"The most important game is always the next one and now a different European Championship starts. We are bracing for a very difficult game, and we will go with the best weapons we have to get out with a win.

"We all have seen surprising things happen in football and I don't think that will stop happening.

"Georgia beat Portugal, we have to respect them as opponents, work hard and take the game with the importance that it has so it doesn't happen to us.

"They are fast in the counter-attack and very good in the set-pieces. We need to be vigilant and aware, so we don't end up exposed to counter-attacks in speed."

The knockout rounds of Euro 2024 got underway on Saturday, with the first two teams booking their places in the quarter-finals.

Switzerland stunned the defending champions, sending Italy home after a 2-0 victory in Berlin.

Later, Germany also prevailed by the same scoreline to take a step closer to potential success on home soil, beating Denmark.

Here, we round up the best Opta statistics from the first set of Euro 2024 round-of-16 ties.

Switzerland 2-0 Italy: Vargas ends Azzurri defence

The teams on Switzerland's side of the draw will be looking over their shoulders after they dumped Italy out, largely thanks to Ruben Vargas' standout performance.

He set up Remo Freuler's opener before curling in a stunning effort himself, becoming the first Swiss player to score and assist in a knockout match of a major tournament on record (since 1966 - World Cup and Euros).

The winger's strike came just 27 seconds after kick-off in the second period, the second-fastest goal in the second half of a Euros match after Marcel Coras netted against West Germany within 21 seconds in Euro 1984.

Switzerland will face either England or Slovakia in the quarter-finals, reaching the last eight in consecutive editions after failing to make it out of their group in three of their previous four participations in the competition (reached the last 16 in 2016).

Despite being reigning champions, Italy were not touted as one of the favourites going into the tournament, and they struggled to mount a real title defence.

Their early exit means the reigning champions have been eliminated in the round of 16 at each of the last three European Championships, with Portugal losing to Belgium at Euro 2020 and Spain going out to Italy at Euro 2016.

In fact, Italy conceded more goals at Euro 2024 (five) than they did in seven matches at the last edition of the tournament, when they conceded just four goals on their way to lifting the trophy.

The Azzurri have ended a run of six games without defeat in the knockout stages (90 minutes only, three wins, three draws), with their last such defeat coming in the 2012 final against Spain, by a 4-0 scoreline.

This is also the first time they have lost more than one match at a single edition of the Euros.

Germany 2-0 Denmark: Musiala draws level in scoring charts

With plenty of VAR drama, and a break midway through the first half due to adverse weather, it was certainly an entertaining tie in Dortmund.

Kai Havertz and Jamal Musiala were the heroes for the hosts with their second-half goals, with the latter netting for the third time in the tournament to put him level with Georges Mikautadze in the Golden Boot race.

In fact, only Wayne Rooney (four) has scored more goals aged 21 or younger at the Euros than Musiala (three), while the midfielder has also scored more goals in four games at this tournament than he managed in his first 29 appearances for the national side (two).

Germany are into their first quarter-final at a major tournament since Euro 2016 - reaching the semi-finals on that occasion - and their four-game unbeaten run at Euro 2024 is their longest streak in such matches since then.

Manuel Neuer continues to break appearance records every time he steps on the pitch - he now has the most caps at the European Championships for Die Nationalelf (19, overtaking Bastian Schweinsteiger), while it was his 39th appearance at major tournaments overall, levelling the midfielder's tally.

After another toothless performance in front of goal, Denmark will not be able to recreate their run to the semi-finals of Euro 2020. Indeed, they have failed to win any of their last eight games at major tournaments (four draws, four defeats).

Eduardo Camavinga is not happy with playing a limited role for France at Euro 2024, but he will remain patient in the knowledge he will get his opportunity eventually.

Camavinga was a regular for Real Madrid as they won the Champions League and LaLiga in 2023-24, playing 2,825 minutes across 46 games, 32 of them starts.

However, he has not been able to win a place in Didier Deschamps' preferred France midfield at the Euros, with N'Golo Kante returning to the setup to play alongside Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot.

Camavinga played just 48 minutes in substitute appearances against Austria and Poland in the group stage and is not expected to force his way into the lineup for Monday's last-16 clash with Belgium.

Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, the versatile 21-year-old said he was unhappy with the situation but has faith his chance will come.

"This is not a positive outcome for me. The fact that I don't play much doesn't necessarily make me happy," Camavinga said.

"I know that one day or another, my time will come. You have to be ready, like at the World Cup when the coach asked me to come on in the final.

"You have to be ready during training. Me, before matches, I do the same thing, I listen to music, I do my warm-ups. 

"If my head is right, my legs will follow. A competition is not played with 11 players. The most important thing is to be focused until the end."

Camavinga also had limited gametime at the 2022 World Cup, appearing twice and starting once as France reached the final but lost on penalties to Argentina.

In that final – a thrilling 3-3 draw that featured a Kylian Mbappe hat-trick – Camavinga came on at left-back after illness struck the France camp.

He has also played in that position for his club, but he maintains central midfield is his preferred role, saying: "I still don't enjoy it, that hasn't changed. 

"But I'm a team player. If I have to play full-back again, I will. But it remains a position that I do not like."

Camavinga will not come up against his Madrid team-mate Thibaut Courtois on Monday, as the goalkeeper was left out of Belgium's squad despite returning from an anterior cruciate ligament injury shortly before the end of the season.

Courtois has been frozen out since he stormed out of Domenico Tedesco's camp last year, and Camavinga says his absence will benefit Les Bleus.

"Him not playing is a good thing for us," Camavinga said. "Belgium are a great footballing nation, with great players. 

"The group stage is the past for them, like for us, and I think mentally, the Belgians will be stronger. This remains a team that can surprise us at any time."

Switzerland head coach Murat Yakin knew his team would "destroy" Italy in the last 16 at Euro 2024 when he saw the Azzurri had made a change of formation.

Switzerland are into the European Championship quarter-finals for just the second time after beating the defending champions 2-0 in Berlin, having also reached the last eight by claiming the scalp of France at Euro 2020.

Yakin's team were good value for their victory, leading Italy for shots (13 to 11), shots on target (four to one), expected goals (1.3 to 0.78 xG) and touches in the penalty area (24 to 12).

Azzurri boss Luciano Spalletti made several changes to his starting lineup for the match, reverting to his usual 4-3-3 shape after employing a 3-5-2 versus Croatia in their last group game.

After that match – a 1-1 draw which saw Italy sneak through Group B in second place – Spalletti hit out at reports that his players had forced the change of system.

Yakin believes Italy's revised setup played into the hands of his team on Saturday, telling SRF: "It's unbelievable what's going on here. We've enjoyed ourselves in every stadium. Big praise to the fans.

"I knew if the Italians came with a back four, we would destroy them. Then we would let them run. 

"Dan [Ndoye] closed down the midfield. His man, [Stephan] El Shaarawy, hardly saw the ball."

Switzerland will now face either England or Slovakia in the last eight next Saturday, as they bid to reach the semi-finals of a major tournament for the very first time.

Yakin has no preference regarding his team's next opponent, saying: "You'd have to ask the fans if they prefer England or Slovakia.

"We won an important game, and that's crucial. As for what happens tomorrow, and what comes after that, we'll prepare well again for our next opponents."

England face Slovakia in their last-16 tie on Sunday, with the Three Lions looking to reach the last eight at back-to-back editions of the Euros for the first time ever.